Plastic surgeon jailed for rape

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A 53-year-old plastic surgeon has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for rape.

The doctor was also ordered to pay his 23-year-old victim damages amounting to 180,000 kronor.

According to the prosecutor, the woman was mistreated by the doctor on two occasions. In 2003, he administered an anaesthetic in a manner that endangered her life.

The plastic surgeon was then remanded in custody at the end of June on suspicion of raping the 23-year-old patient while she was anaesthetized.

Local media have focused on a number of unusual details surrounding the surgeon's treatment of his patient:

He trimmed the woman's bikini line using a laser hair removal treatment, a process not usually performed by a doctor.

He administered the anaesthetic Propofol, which is not usually necessary for treatments of this kind.

He was alone with the patient in the treatment room, which lacked the necessary equipment to deal with any eventual respiratory problems the patient might have had.

According to the woman, the anaesthetic did not put her to sleep. She heard and felt what was happening but was unable to react. Traces of the doctor's semen were later found on her body and underwear.

"Devastating evidence," said prosecutor Bo Albrektsson, adding that the entire case read like a bad film script.

The doctor and his lawyer served up an array of explanations intended to break the chain of evidence. They pointed out for example that Propofol is known to cause erotic hallucinations and that the throbbing of the laser treatment could have felt like the thrusting motions of sexual intercourse.

Other elements of his defence included: an inadvertent erection brought on by medication and the need for masturbation to remedy the situation.

Investigations are currently under way into five several further reports of sexual molestation allegedly carried out by the surgeon.

Most of the trial was held behind closed doors, although several members of the doctor's family were in attendance.

On the last day of the trial, the surgeon's son testified on his father's behalf.

The doctor's surgery has been sold since he was first taken into custody.

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